What expats need to know about cooling rents in Singapore as tenants gain upper hand in 2025
Singapore’s red-hot leasing market for private housing finally began to cool this year as supply of new apartments got the better of post-pandemic demand. Although the outlook for 2025 is still unclear, the dice seem to be loaded in favor of tenants. While landlords will fight tooth and nail to pass the burden of property taxes and interest rates when contracts come up for renewal, global banks, tech firms, and other multinationals may be cautious about how many more employees they bring into the city-state.
As a major Asian financial center, Singapore is highly exposed to the current uncertainty in the global economy. The post-election euphoria around President-elect Donald Trump’s economic agenda of deregulation and tax cuts is starting to wane. Higher-for-longer borrowing costs are emerging as a real risk.
After jumping nearly 60% in three years, the island-wide rental index has softened by 4% over the last four quarters. The decline would have been somewhat sharper had it not been for a small bounce in the three months to September.
High-end condominiums in the central region are leading the way to greater affordability. Which way the pendulum swings next year — and by how much — may be decided by the number of new units becoming available for lease. And the number of new expatriates coming to the city.
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So far this year, developers have been cautious with apartment supply, though that could change. According to data released Friday, 738 new
